The Villain's Hero

Trigger warnings for physical violence, and implied sexual assault.

A supervillain knows that there are a few necessary steps to robbing a bank. Figuring out your target, plan of attack, and escape route are all vital to getting out with the money, without getting arrested. 

A smart supervillain knows that their hero is a vital part of that plan working correctly.

Glitch is and always will be the worlds greatest bank robber. She knows how much to steal, how to launder it, and how not to get caught. But, most importantly, she knows to play the part, and so does her hero. 

Every bank robbery has a few important steps.

1. Glitch enters through the front door, always in broad daylight, ready to make a scene. Be loud, chaotic, use her electricity powers to drive as many people out as quickly as possible. After all, she has no intention of actually killing anybody… Blood doesn’t come out of kevlar that easily.
2. Her sidekick Phantom, a secret who can slip through walls, goes straight for the safe while everyone is focused on Glitch.
3. Phantom takes anything that she wants, before slipping through the back wall and out of the other building pressed against it. She leaves the premises immediately, with the money, by herself.
4. Helios, the bullet proof man with the power of the sun shows up long before law enforcement, and offers to make Glitch a deal.
5. They fight, and Glitch escapes with nothing.
6. The news lauds their favorite hero for saving the day, and the missing money will go unaccounted for for days. 
7. Helios gets his photo on the cover of another magazine, while Glitch and Phantom go out to a Michelin star restaurant as their civilian identities, Violet and Lucy. 

It’s a well oiled machine, a perfect setup that keeps Glitch out of prison, and her alter ego Violet at her boring IT job. 

What people don’t understand is that the fight with Helios is always planned and accounted for. It draws attention, it brings the police to the front of the bank, giving Phantom a perfect route to escape across town. Once Glitch is sure that the money is long gone, she can use a “stunning defeat” from Helios as an excuse to leave the bank without actually getting to the safe. 

Step 4 is not going to plan. Helios hasn’t shown up yet. Phantom is trapped in the safe, the bank is filled with screaming civilians, and Glitch only has so much false bravado. Glitch glances around praying for something that can keep people’s eyes off of the safe. 

A woman with a phone in her hand will have to do.

“You think calling the police are going to be able to stop me?” Glitch asks, distorted voice spilling out of the PA system. “They’re in for the ride of their lives without their little hero to help them.”

The lights flicker, as Glitch focuses her powers on making the biggest spectacle possible. Bills start flying out of ATMs and music starts blasting out of the speakers. It’s just enough that nobody notices the signal from Phantom coming over the communicator. Just a few more people cleared out, and Phantom can leave without being seen.

There are people sneaking out of the front door, and it is exactly the kind of distraction that Glitch needs.

“Where is your hero now?” she shouts pumping enough electricity through the lights to shatter the bulbs.

She doesn’t expect an answer. 

“There’s a hero right here,” a modulated voice pipes up behind her. 

Glitch turns, a dramatic, practiced pirouette that stems from years of these performative fights. A tall, thin man hovers behind her, putting himself between Glitch and the civilians. 

He doesn’t look like a hero, in cargo pants and a jean jacket. A mask covering the bottom half of his face is really the only indicator of a secret identity at all. This new hero isn’t theatrical enough for her tastes, but she’ll take the distraction that she can get.

“Amateur,” Glitch mumbles under her breath, before swaying into a defensive stance. “I’ve never seen you before. Do you really think you can take me?”

“I know I can,” the new hero shouts back. He launches towards her, shoving her to the ground. 

Glitch stares up at the masked man in shock. It’s been a while since somebody has been able to get her off of her feet that quickly. She pushes off the ground, using her powers to turn everything in the bank on at full power. Fans start shaking, computers start screaming, and every speaker in the room blows out, all while civilians flood out of the bank.

The hero doesn’t even seem phased. He pulls a disc off of the shoulder of his jacket and flicks it directly at Glitch.

She tries to dodge, but it isn’t quite enough. Pain flairs through her arm as the disk slices through her shoulder. More razor thin disks fly towards Glitch, and more importantly towards the people screaming behind her. 

Glitch isn’t used to this. Helios knows to get her out of the line of fire. He knows that this is for show. So how the hell is she supposed to fight a man who’s willing to leave more collateral damage than she is?

The hero rushes her again, just stopping short of a man bracing his baby for impact. That’s when she hears it, the whir of fans in the new hero’s boots. He isn’t flying on his own. Glitch focuses her power on those boots, on every piece of technology on this new hero’s body, shutting them down right as the man tries to fly at her again. 

“It’s time we power down, don’t you think?” she jeers as the new hero rolls to a stop in front of her feet. 

The new hero looks up at her with bright angry eyes. “You think I can’t fight you like this?” he asks, voice cracking.

At that everything stops. The whole bank shuts down around Glitch as she tries to process the fact that the man at her feet sounds like a child. 

“How old are you?”

The young hero looks up at Glitch in confusion. “Old enough to fight.” He sounds even younger with that statement.

“No flyboy, I don’t think you are.” Glitch holds her hands up to show that she means no (more) harm. “I’ll make you a deal.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t feel like fighting a child. Call the police, and I’ll go willingly.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Of course you don’t. you’re too young to be in this life. You may have gotten some fancy powers from that satellite crash like the rest of us, but you aren’t ready yet, and I already have a hero trying to stop me at every turn.” Glitch steps over to the waiting area and sits in the only chair that hasn’t been destroyed by her ridiculous show of power. “Go ahead. Call the cops. I have no intention of trying to escape.”

The police arrive ten minutes later with power suppressing handcuffs, electronic power suppressing handcuffs.

The photo of Glitch smiling as she’s pushed into the back of a police car amasses 17,000 reposts before she even makes it to the station.

The police keep Glitch sitting alone in the interrogation room for two hours. She’s tapping her fingers against the edge of the table when an attractive young officer finally comes in, and sits across from her.

“You know, New York City law says you can only hold me here for 48 hours without evidence of a crime, or a confession. You might wan’t to start interrogating me, you only have 46 hours left, and I’m notoriously difficult!”  

The officer rolls his eyes. “We have footage of you walking into the bank and demanding money.” He places a folder full of frames from security cameras down in front of her. Each photo is very clearly of Glitch.

“Yet here I am with less money than I had this morning because you took the twenty that was in my pocket.”

“The bank that you just came from is missing over fifty thousand dollars, cash.”

“Did you see fifty thousand dollars on me? I may have been in that bank but I don’t have the money. If it was a wire transfer you’d have me dead to rights, but the only thing you have evidence of me doing today, is property damage.” She continues tapping at the table, trying not to let on to the fact that she was scanning the room’s electrical paths. The door is connected to a lock that opens with handprint recognition. Glitch can work with that.

“Are you implying that somebody else took the money?”

“Maybe I am. I was in that bank for half an hour, and I don’t have any of that money.”

“Then why did you turn yourself in?” the officer asks. “You could have just left.”

“I’d love to see what a court would think if I presented the same argument you just did.” 

The officer gives her an exasperated look. 

“Fine!” Glitch says, with a roll of her eyes. "That kid who came to fight me was like fourteen. I’d rather be sitting here with you than fighting a child. Why don’t you see what he knows? Maybe he ran into the actual thief while he was on his way to give me a stress aneurysm.”

“He is being questioned right now, and thanked profusely. You have fifty charges against you. Even Helios hasn’t been able to get you into police custody. It’s been a month since we’ve heard from him. Would you know anything about that?”

“I’m not a fan of what you’re implying. I had a lovely fight with him at the MoMA, and we parted ways. I haven’t seen him since either,” Glitch explains.

“He just let you go that night?” 

“There was a bigger threat. A villain with real blood on his hands. If I’m being honest with you, I’m wondering where the hell he is too. For lack of a better phrase, he’s my hero, my adversary. I like knowing what he’s up to.”

“What is your relationship like with Helios?”

“Are you asking if I know who he is?” She flattens her hands against the table and raises an eyebrow. “I plead the fifth.”

“That’s not what I was asking at all. Vigilantism may be illegal, but he is doing far more good than you are.”

“That’s a pretty low bar officer, most people are doing more good than me. If you must know. Our relationship is like a great comic book.” She lifts her hands off of the table and rests her chin on the handcuffs. “He’s amazing to watch, you know. There are some days where he bursts in and plays the role like it will win him an Oscar. He strides across the floor with that smirk and shouts ‘Glitch! In the name of all that is good you will stop this!’ and, of course, we fight. He tries to catch me and he comes close. But, there are other days though, where he walks in looking like he hasn’t slept in a week. There are no theatrics, just a resigned sigh of ‘What the fuck G?’ Those are the really fun days. He doesn’t hold back. He tries to catch me, and he comes much much closer. It really is sad that you don’t know where he is either.”

“You speak highly of your adversary.” The officer says, narrowing his eyes.

“I have to have some respect. He is the one who’s come the closest to ever catching me.”

“Have you forgotten where you are? We’ve got you.”

Glitch smiles “It’s cute that you think that. I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t getting something out of this.” She holds her cuffed wrists in front of him. “Maybe next time you should avoid using electronic cuffs on a technopath.” 

Glitch whips her arms forward. The handcuffs click open and fall to the table. In a quick move she slams the officers arms down, locking the handcuffs on his wrists. 

“Next time go old school!” Glitch calls over her shoulder, as she walks out of the station.

The news barely even mentions Glitch escaping police custody, or the missing fifty thousand dollars. The missing superhero is a much bigger deal. Helios’ supposed close friends and contacts in NYPD are all tight lipped. If they know anything, it’s about his civilian identity, and they aren’t willing to talk.

The PowerReport, a ridiculous news broadcast dedicated specifically to the happenings of people with super powers, plays in the background as Violet cleans her Glitch mask. Every single point is segued into another helpless plea for Helios to come back. 

It’s a little short sighted to say he hasn’t been seen in a month, considering the only super powered attack that’s happened since his last sighting was the bank robbery that morning. Violet shouldn’t be worried about the man who get’s his accolades for punching her in the face. But… it’s odd. He’s never just let her attempt to rob a bank. He may let her get away, but he always at least tries.

Violet is just about to turn the TV off, when the doorbell rings. She immediately glances to the clock. 2:35 AM. 

“Who the hell?” Violet grumbles, shutting off the TV and shuffling towards the front door. 

Violet flings the door open, and immediately recognizes the bright green eyes that meet hers. 

Glitch and Helios have never actually seen each other out of costume. It’s an important part of the whole secret identity thing. But, those eyes have haunted her. She knows them better than she knows her own. 

Violet may not be able to tell you this man’s real name, but she knows him.

“Helios?” Violet whispers, hoping for some sort of explanation. 

Helios remains quiet, save for his heavy breathing. For a moment, Violet just stares, trying to connect the dots. Helios is at her house. Helios is in regular clothes, unmasked. Helios knows who Glitch actually is. It takes a moment of looking before Violet actually sees the person standing in front of her. 

There’s a cut on his cheekbone, and a bruise on his neck. His clothing is torn right in the places that are easiest to grab. His eyes are glazed over like he’s been drugged. He’s shivering. Violet’s hero is standing on his nemesis’ front porch looking absolutely terrified, and for once it has nothing to do with her.

Violet opens her mouth to speak, but is immediately cut off by Helios swaying forward. She rushes to catch him, knees buckling under his weight. 

“G… G, I’m so sorry,” Helios slurs, pressing his face against Violet’s shoulder. It sends a shiver down her spine. “I— I didn’t know where else to go.”

At that Helios is dead weight in Violet’s arms. She struggles to pull him into her house. Violet’s mind rushes with anxiety. She tries to figure out if he’s breathing as she drags him over to her couch, struggles to remember what a recovery position looks like, and shakes at the memory of the last person she’d seen with a look like that in their eyes. The screaming red flare, that Helios knows who she is and where she lives, doesn’t even register, not when she’s pretty sure that he’d been drugged and assaulted.

It takes thirty minutes for her to calm down enough to even look at him beyond checking for vitals. Violet’s eyes track over the already healing cut, something that had to be left by another super. They move to the bruise on his neck, then the tear on his shirt sleeve. It all puts together a pretty damning image. 

Violet may not know all of the details, but she does know one thing for certain. There is somebody out there, who is dangerous enough and evil enough to hurt the world’s greatest hero, Violet’s hero. There is someone out there who needs to be stopped, and Violet is likely the only other person who knows about them. 

There are a couple of perks that come with being the villain. One of them is that she’s not afraid to get blood on her hands. It might be nice for her conscience to do so on behalf of somebody good for once.